


Dear Aveline

by parshaara



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, F/M, there's angst and not much else here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 20:32:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17649404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parshaara/pseuds/parshaara
Summary: A letter to Aveline from Varric following the Fade mission in which Hawke is sacrificed.





	Dear Aveline

“I have some letters to write,” Varric sighed trying to politely excuse himself from the inquisitor’s company. Sensing his tension, they nodded heading for their quarters. The hall filled and emptied twice over before Varric could bring quill to paper. His candles burned to stubs and shadows bloomed under his eyes. As the hall filled with nobles anticipating dinner, he finally coaxed words from the barb. 

Aveline, 

I am sorry I have not written since before we marched on Adamant. How are Donnic and the boys? I hope they haven’t raised too much hell. They must be talking up a storm by now. I wish I could have come to see them, but my place is with the Inquisition right now. 

Things have not been easy, but I think the kid is finally coming into their own. Which brings me to the true reason for this letter’s tardiness. I still don’t know how to put this into words, and I still don’t know what’s going to happen, but Hawke is gone 

The tail of the “e” hung on the end of his quill, a small bloom of ink budding where the tip rested, seemingly rooted in place. A small noise caught in his throat. Hawke. Kaileen; the mother of his children. The woman he’d never expected to find such a connection with. Taking a sip from his now warm tankard, he resumed his letter to Aveline. 

It happened so quickly that I almost expect to wake up and find she’s still safe in hiding with Blondie. Everything was going as well as it could have all things considered. But the Wardens, they were binding themselves; willingly submitting themselves to Corypheus’ influence. When we were finally able to reach Clarel, all hell broke loose. The kid saved us by opening the Fade with that crazy hand of theirs. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t believe me, but I’d like to think that you would believe me with Kail’s life on the line. We went into the fade. It wasn’t like going into the elf’s dream though, this was different. We were physically there. And the Divine, or something masquerading as the Divine; she led us to an exit. Well to a Nightmare. There was no way we could have made it through. She stayed behind so that the Wardens could be used to the Inquisition’s advantage. She faulted herself for not properly finishing off Corypheus. As if she could have known. 

I want to believe she’s still there. I want to believe she’ll see the boys grow up. I want to have her back with me. 

-Varric

Varric leaned back in his chair and studied the parchment before him. He wondered if the boys would even remember their mother. They’d barely weaned when Aveline took them in. He thought once more of Kaileen, her rich auburn hair and sparkling green eyes; the way her laugh rang out against the bare walls in her estate; the time she’d donned his favorite tunic and read animatedly from one of his books. 

 

-  
-  
-  
-  
Kaileen curled up on the dais where the Nightmare once stood. Time passed strangely in the fade, and what felt like a single night was most likely a fortnight or more in the actual world. She thought of her sons, so small and vulnerable when she’d left them behind, both boys sporting tufts of strawberry blonde hair, their eyes still a watery grey. She thought of Aveline being the one to have seen their first words, their first steps, would be teaching them to read and write. Instead of being mad or jealous, she was thankful. A woman who had already lost so much and had only just begun a life with her new husband who was willing to take on the burden of raising the self-proclaimed smart-ass duo’s children. 

She kissed the ring of Varric’s necklace as fresh tears broke through the dried blood and filth on her cheeks. Kaileen startled as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She dared to look up and found herself looking into the eyes of her mother. “Hush child,” Leandra cooed, stroking her shoulder. Two more hands joined her mother’s. Carver? But the other hand was large as well, definitely too large to belong to Bethany. Gamlen? “We’re here now,” Malcolm’s voice echoed over her shoulder. 

Kaileen gritted her teeth. The Nightmare wasn’t through with her yet.


End file.
